Black Veil Brides share the dumbest disses they’ve ever gotten, biggest rockstar moments

[Photo by Grizzlee Martin]

We asked the guys in Black Veil Brides what were the more ridiculous and sublime things said about them over the course of their career. From private conversations with fans and friends to keyboard warrior doofuses (doofi?), these are the comments the men of BVB remember. If you want to learn more about BVB, pick up our latest issue below!

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PERSONAL BIGGEST ROCKSTAR MOMENT
ANDY BIERSACK: The first time we sold out London’s Brixton Academy. On a side note, it was the first time we ever had pyrotechnics in our show. I didn’t understand how they work. The concussion blast happens prior to the flame, because you can’t see or hear what happens onstage. So the concussion blast happens, and I run out to the front of the stage and up on my riser—which is directly in front of the first bit of flames that are going to shoot up. There’s a photo of me where I look like I’m screaming “Yeaaaah,” but it’s because my face is on fire two feet away from the flame. It was so hot, I lost my place in the song. But it was truly a rockstar moment.  
CHRISTIAN “CC” COMA: I would say playing playing mainstage at Download. I've always had dreams of performing for a crowd like that, you know, such a fun festival atmosphere. We went out there and there's 80,000 people—you literally cannot see the end of humans. I think that's probably the biggest rockstar moment ever. The fact that I'm with a couple of guys and we're able to entertain that many people and have the crowd roar for us, was like a dream come true. It was the largest human gathering I think I've ever witnessed. It was crazy.
JINXX: Jake and I won an award for Best Guitarist at the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods. We were awarded by Zakk Wylde, and it was amazing. He gave us amazing props and is just the sweetest guy on the planet. Amazing guitarist. So we win this award and then we’re meant to play a couple songs, because it’s an award show. We’re introduced by Alice Cooper, who’s been giving us props all along the way, as well. Then we played a Twisted Sister song with Dee Snider. It doesn’t really get more rock ’n’ roll than that.
JAKE PITTS: It was one of our early tours. I was still playing B.C. Rich guitars. I had a Mockingbird Hardtail guitar that I kept on the bus just to jam on. We’d be driving to the next city, and the five of us ended up in the back lounge of the bus together, drinking. I was playing and I broke the high E string. So I yelled, “What am I gonna do, change this string? Neverrrrr!” Then we opened up the back window and I threw my guitar out the window and onto the highway and watched it explode into pieces on the freeway.
ASHLEY PURDY: It’s relative. We’ve had all those moments where we’re like, “This is some rockstar shit,” where we’re partying and doing excessive things. Something that meant a lot to me—being from a really small town in the Midwest—was when we first started, we sold out shows in cities that, where I’m from, people have only heard of and will never visit, like London, Paris and Milan. One of our very first international tours sold out, and that was an accomplishment where I was like, “Wow, I think I’m doing it. I think I’m making it.”

DUMBEST DISS
BIERSACK: The sentence, “If they spent more time learning how to play their instruments and less time putting on makeup, they would be a better band.” When we stopped wearing the makeup, they didn’t have a reason for not enjoying the songs. I found it funny that a band would have to curtail their interest in visual aesthetics so people could hear your music “the right way.”
COMA: A lot of people get down on me for my weight. They'll be like, “Eat a cheeseburger” or this, that and the other thing. That gets pretty old. I think that's probably the funniest thing, because it's just so funny to think that somebody thinks it's okay to say that to me because I'm skinny. However, if the roles were reversed and I were to say something to a heavy person, all hell would break loose. So I think it's a double standard—but that's probably the funniest thing.
JINXX: We get told, “Man, those guys can’t play.” I’m like, “Are you sure you’ve ever heard our music?” It just boggles my mind because I play guitar all day long, every day. I’m never gonna say I’m the best guitarist or whatever, but we actually can play. It blows my mind sometimes when you can tell [the trolls] are huge Metallica fans or whatever fans, and I’m like, “I’m a fan of those bands too, they’re an influence.” It just doesn’t register to me why they wouldn’t like us.
PITTS: I don’t know if it’s a diss, but it was something I saw on the internet. Someone posted that I was tied to a tree and lit on fire. I found that funny—and really out there.
PURDY: You get accustomed to all this, but maybe the sexuality thing. It’s like, “Is that a guy, is that a girl?” That’s just typical from the ’70s and ’80s—it’s dudes with long hair or makeup. But I don’t know, that’s probably about it.